## Chapter 4 – The Eye That Remembers
The ash of the intruder still hung in the air — light as breath, heavy as sin.
Yurei stood alone in the frost chamber, her heartbeat loud in her ears. She stared at the blackened ground where the masked infiltrator had once knelt.
Not even a soul trace remained.
Nothing.
Only silence.
Zeravon had already left.
But the weight of him still lingered — as though a god had stood there and quietly refused to be recognized.
Yurei's grip on her sword tightened.
Something was wrong.
---
### Above – Elder Pavilion
A bell rang — once.
Only once.
That had never happened before.
The protective formation of Blackstone Sect flickered for half a breath, then stabilized again.
Within moments, four Elders had gathered at the Eye Pavilion, their robes heavy with spiritual might.
Elder Zhu Lan, the most senior, placed his hand upon the Pavilion Mirror — a device that could replay the echoes of Qi events.
The mirror flared.
A recording surfaced.
They watched as the masked man entered the sealed chamber…
They saw nothing for a long moment…
And then the man collapsed, bleeding from his eyes.
No battle. No sound. No spell.
Just one figure standing before him: a silent youth with silver eyes.
"…That's the new outer disciple," one Elder whispered. "Zeravon."
Zhu Lan said nothing for a long time. Then he murmured:
> "That wasn't a technique.
> That was a presence."
---
### In the Sky – Near the Moon-Shadow Crater
Clouds twisted unnaturally around a crescent-shaped valley. At its center stood a creature draped in flowing robes that shimmered like liquid ink.
No face. No body. Just outlines.
A whisper of existence.
It knelt before a massive cocoon of pulsating flesh.
"My lord," the creature rasped. "The shell has begun to reject suppression. The girl saw him."
The cocoon pulsed.
From within, a voice came. Hollow. Distorted.
> "He remembers fragments. We need more time. Let the girl dig… she will awaken the ruin within him."
"And the sect?"
> "Bleed it. Slowly. They must suffer before the veil breaks."
---
### Back in the Sect – Training Grounds (Next Morning)
Zeravon stood alone before a stone tablet, brushing away dust. It was an old piece of history — the Names of the Fallen, disciples who had died defending the sect.
He wasn't here to mourn.
He was listening.
"Why are you here?" a voice asked.
Yurei.
She had arrived silently, but he didn't flinch.
"To see if her name was added," Zeravon replied without turning. "It wasn't."
"Mei Lin?"
He nodded. "Even death by curse deserves remembrance."
Yurei walked to his side. For a moment, she was silent. Then:
"What did you do to him?"
Zeravon looked up at the sky.
"I showed him a piece of what he serves."
"That's not an answer."
Zeravon turned to her — and in his eyes, she saw not anger… not arrogance… but infinite distance.
Like someone standing at the edge of a cliff that never ends.
He asked quietly, "What would you do… if you remembered a life you never lived? A war you never fought… but still bled from?"
She had no answer.
Because a flicker of fear had taken root in her chest.
---
### That Night – Forbidden Archives
Elder Zhu Lan moved deeper into the underground archives — an area even most elders were not allowed to enter.
He held a scroll sealed in flesh-string — an ancient record of entities that walked between Realms.
He flipped to a page.
There, drawn in black ichor, was a sketch of a faceless being with a cracked crown and eyes full of starlight.
The caption read:
> **"The Shellborn.
> Vessels created to carry the Will of Void through mortal worlds."**
And beneath it, a prophecy:
> *If one awakens, the sky will bleed.
> If one breaks… the world will forget its own name.*
Zhu Lan's hands trembled.
---
### Deep in Zeravon's Mind – The Locked Door
As Zeravon meditated that night, a door appeared within the darkness of his mind.
He had never seen it before.
Carved of white bone, laced with chains, pulsing with ancient breath.
A voice whispered from behind it:
> "We remember you.
> Do you remember us?"
The door pulsed.
The chains cracked.
A glimpse leaked through:
— Screaming stars. A throne of shattered time. A girl with eyes of light and blood.
Zeravon woke, gasping, hand clenched.
In his fist… was a shard of bone that wasn't there before.
---
## \[To Be Continued…]
---